The rantings of a working mom of twins with a serious fiber addiction

start to finish

I try my best to get things done on time when I am gifting something, but I don’t always make it. Poor Juline gets my gifts late every year, but luckily, she celebrates her birthday pageant style.

Linen Stitch takes awhile.

I wanted to knit something bad, but had no real ideas in mind. I just grabbed some yarn and started knitting a linen stitch swatch, hoping it would serendipitously figure out what it wanted to be.

Linen Stitch Pouch.

It did.

An up close view. I really like these buttons.

I am also a person who has an enormous craft stash. A lot of the time I will think “What could I make to go with this?” and I run to the supplies to see what I can put together. Since I designed jewelry in a former life, I have quite the stash of jewelry supplies just sitting around that are perfect for crafty gifts.

I also dipped into the jewelry making supplies.

I also sent some amazing soap from a soap maker that sells at our local Farmer’s Market. I hope she likes it!

In case you couldn’t tell, I have been all about tapestry weaving lately. I think I caught the bug when working on my Iron Giant Tribute piece…now I’m hooked!

I was having problems finding instructions for specific weaving techniques online, so I started following a handful of tapestry weavers on Instagram. One of these fabulous weavers was Maryanne Moodie.

Imagine my surprise when I read one of her photo captions and found out she would be in Los Angeles teaching at Design Love Fest. I needed to take this class! So I signed up right away and immediately turned in my time off request for work.

The class started off a little shaky. They hadn’t received all of the looms in the mail and they thought they would have to refund money to about half of us (those of us that were local). Luckily, I had told them I would like to stay and watch…and at the last minute, the looms arrived! We all breathed a sigh of relief and class got underway!

The lovely Maryanne Moodie!

Warping the loom.

So coordinated! Even my mimosa matches!

Some close up detail of my practice tapestry.

I didn’t have a whole lot done by the time class was over, but I got the chance to try a bunch of techniques. I also had taken plenty of video to get me through some of those techniques if I was stuck. They helped a lot.

My completed tapestry.

It’s finally done!! I am not totally in love with it, but it was great practice. I am glad I got the chance to learn some new rules so now I can try and break them. I have some different ideas for some tapestry designs that I am really eager to try out!

Leave it to me to volunteer to take part in something and then rethink my project until it is nothing like anything I’ve ever tried. On the bright side, it means I’m never bored.

Here’s the thing…I was asked if I wanted to take part in an art show. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, because really, when do I ever say no?

Well, I spent weeks thinking and rethinking what I would do for my project. I thought to myself over and over again “Of course, everyone is going to think I should crochet a doll. That’s easy.” It was the first thing to get crossed off the list. I wasn’t even going to keep it as an option…because I am a pain in the ass like that.

Then there were the discussions with my knitting friends. Maybe some intarsia or something? I could easily chart out something cool… Nope.

Luckily, Courtney is someone who is big on ideas. We went back and forth about what would be good. There were a bunch of suggestions she threw out…and I somehow settled on weaving.

I did my research. I wanted to do something sort of mixed up and using different techniques. Really, folks, I am feeling my way through this. It’s not like I own a lap loom…

No loom? No problem.

It’s a good thing I am all about the process. I started making a loom with some nails and a picture frame. I got 3/4 done when my husband took over so I could keep my thumbs.

Getting started.

I use whatever I like as a tool. I like dinner forks.

So far it is looking pretty good and I just got an email today saying when I need to have my piece turned in…and it’s more time than I thought I had. I dunno…I might actually pull this off.

While I wait for all of my supplies to arrive for that project I keep procrastinating on, I decided I should try out a few things so I know what I am doing when I actually do this stuff for reals.

I have so much scrap yarn for this stuff!

First things first…I needed to try out drawing a design and weaving on top of it. No problem…achievement unlocked! Oh look, I can make fringe too!

All done!

I also attached it to one of the sticks my daughter and her friends collected for me at the last Girl Scout event. Yay, nature!

I played around in the round too.

I also tried weaving on an embroidery hoop. Just something easy so I could try it out.

Then took them to work and decorated my cubicle.

Now I have proper office decorations. Maybe I will start a collection of all of my little experiments and just hang them up at work. It’ll give me something to stare at and pet if I ever get stressed out at work.

Today is a big day! I just dropped my little girl off at Girl Scout camp and she is off to enjoy a weekend of fun in the wilderness with a bunch of her friends.

I had posted a picture of her for my friends and relatives to see and was asked if she had a sit-upon. I didn’t realize these things had been around for so long. I don’t remember making one when I was in Girl Scouts, but my mom and aunt remember making them when they were kids…and they have a significant amount of years on me.

For those of you who don’t know what a sit-upon is, the Girl Scouts of America defines it as “A lightweight pad or mat used when sitting on the floor or ground.” Pretty self explanatory.

The supplies…

My daughter had missed one of her Brownie meetings while my parents were in town visiting, so we needed to play catch up. As part of earning her first badge, she made a pretty snazzy sit upon. My mom and I found the supplies at our local JoAnn’s and she put it all together with minimal help.

Marking for the holes…

Lacing it up!

All finished!!

Now she has it packed up and ready to use it on her first camping trip!

On the heels of Stitches West, and despite my busy schedule, I’ve started getting back to making things for myself (for now at least). I was very eager to cast something on…and this was it.

It’s my “Lunar Progression project that doesn’t quite have the perfect name just yet.” In the Doomsday Knits book they show this as more of a steampunky project. I’ve decided to take it to more watery depths.

This is called “I can’t keep track of anything while knitting on the main thoroughfare.”So, I must frog…

I consider David to be an integral part of my becoming a fan of the show Supernatural. Those Winchester boys are certainly fun to look at! Well, not too long ago, I scored myself a ticket to Supernatural Con here in Burbank. While I was there, I was scouring what little they had in the way of swag to find the perfect Castiel souvenir for him. I had a tough time. I left with a Destiel mug, but I was disappointed that they didn’t have more there.

The scariest part of this project was giving him the five o’clock shadow. That is mascara on his cute little face. I was so worried I would mess it up.

Finally, here’s our favorite angel.

I think he turned out awesome!

I also made David a Rooty hat from one of my favorite designers, Alex Tinsley. I feel like I am in the mood to knit all kinds of ear flap and pom pom hats lately. Hopefully soon I will get to make one for myself. I have a few other things to clear out of the queue first!

So, I said I was going to do it…and I did! I had a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary viewing party!

Me and my girl before everyone arrived. We’re both wearing our Her Universe dresses and the headbands I’ve been talking about!

Eleven!

After we watched (and gasped…and cheered…and maybe shed a tear or two), we had craft time! I saw a really great blog post from Doodle Craft on how to make your own sonic screwdriver pens! You can check out the post HERE.

Everyone making their sonics!

Both kids and adults enjoyed craft time! It was super fun to all get around the table, play with some sculpey and discuss what we thought of the show.

Our Sonic Screwdrivers!

We had so much fun! I feel like I should have some sort of craft at every party!

All of last week was crunch time. I am not sure how it happened, but I was the last one in my family to get prepared for Halloween. Maybe it was because my costume had the most the DIY.

There was felt…and hot glue gun injuries.

Paint to ruin my manicure. (But let’s be honest, I do my own manicures…so bad could I have possibly ruined it?)

Sharpies and wigs.

And quite a lot of hand sewing things to other things…yes, I’m sewing these as I’m wearing them.

And makeup (which is an area that is pretty foreign to me).

It was a lot of DIY, but I think it turned out okay. Granted, no one (well maybe a few small children) knew who I was and my husband’s store bought mask and gloves were a bigger hit (which is annoying when you put that much work into a costume), but my daughter appreciated that I dressed up as a Monster High Doll for her, even without my finding latex gills.

Loom assembled! Note: I realize that anchoring my loom with my feet is not the best idea.

I kicked butt on that itchy Nature Spun included in with the loom, and lickety split I was done.

My first woven scarf.

Much like the first “skein” of yarn I spun on a drop spindle, I hate it…I love it…I’m incredibly critical of the workmanship but feel attached to it for sentimental reasons.

As soon as I had the fringe tied off and the ends woven in, I immediately started warping for the next project. I had some bright cotton yarn that David had given me before he moved to the Bay area. It’s been sitting in a bag screaming to be something. I am much more pleased with this attempt at weaving. It helps that I love the bright colors.